As you continue to develop in your career, you will find that your responsibilities as a leader will increase. You will be tasked with many different jobs, such as managing conflict, handling communication challenges among your team members, or addressing organizational communication needs. As you know, no employee likes to speak up only to have his or her ideas not taken seriously, or to confront others about their working styles, or to face uncomfortable gossip among coworkers.

View the LDR/531 Storybooks.

Develop a summary of no more than 1,050 words that includes multiple ways to handle the three situations shown in the Storybooks.

Discuss communication styles and barriers and the conflict and negotiation process involved in handling the three situations. For each storybook, describe the strategy or strategies you would apply in these situations.

Consider the following as you complete the assignment:

Storybook #1:

• How would you react when a team member is being vague and trying to spin bad news to sound more positive, thereby making it harder for the team to actually approach and resolve the issue?

• How could you encourage someone to continue to voice his or her opinion or to share an idea when you know she is hesitant to do so?

Storybook #2:

• As a manager, how would you relay an important negative message with as little impact on your team as possible? Why would you choose this method?

• What is the best way to handle gossip before it spreads?

• How might you handle your team's feelings after a negative situation has occurred that does not directly affect your team but affects others around them?